Based on another thread, I decided to start this one to see how many of our fine message board contributors actually query agents/and or prodcos looking for scripts or enter misc. contests.


I myself, have yet to enter a contest, I have queried a few agents, and am constantly sending out queries to prodcos who are looking for scripts through various websites.

Also, has anyone ever been successful in their queries?  What is the ratio of success in sending out queries vs. scripts that have been "found" on SS?

Just thought this would be an interesting way to see who among us is really giving a go at making a career out of screenwriting.

Just to pimp another thread: http://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b-screenwrite/m-1142211594/

That contains a weekly ProdCo that accepts unsolicited queries. I have queried almost every company that has an email address multiple times with multiple scripts. This is what clued me in to there being a possible problem with my query style, since out of all the queries I've sent, I've gotten one request for a read and never heard back after that.

But I am always sending out queries. Every couple of weeks I query out a different script of mine and ever so often, I rewrite the query and try again. Still nothing. Getting a bit bummed actually...

Hey George,

I've queried some of the companies in that thread, and I don't think I've gotten a response from any of them either.  Usually, I'll google "scripts wanted" or "screenplays wanted" and find some pretty decent links there, although some of them aren't used as much as others.


Have you ever been to http://www.nefilm.com?

You can submit a brief synopsis of your script as being available, and producers who check out the site will contact you if they like what they see.  I've had moderate luck with it, and it's much easier than sending out countless queries.

I also tend to check out the craigslist pages for Chicago, New York, and LA.  I've had minimal luck with those though, and sometimes things strike me as suspect.

I've entered too many competitions to count and will still enter them in the future.  While I would send query letters out twice a year, I'm holding off until I receive finished copies of some of my produced shorts.  Once I have them, I will send copies with the query letters.


Phil

With my first script, "Devil's Peak", I used Scriptblaster to query about a 1000 producers and agents. I got 12 responses to read and from that, 2 were interested. It ended up with Clarity Pictures.

My second script, "Lakeshore Manor" (which now has a co-writer), has been sent to about 2 dozen agents/producers individually. From that, we have had 8 responses to read, so that's a pretty good average.

The ProdCo's on the thread come from Creative Screenwriting magazine, and I imagine due to that publication, they get inundated with queries. I keep them though, and query long after I got the original email for it.

Scriptblaster is very tempting, and I've considerd to be a good bet. MacDuff is one of many success stories posted on that site. I'll have to check out nefilm.com, though.

I have only had my Mercenary: Soldier of Fortune read by some small company out in California.  Most likely because it is the only one of my screenplays that is registered with the WGA.  They told me they liked it, but it didn't fit with their production schedule.  So I don't know if that was just nice way to say No, or if they didn't have the budget or whatever.  They seemed to be a low-budget horror film company from the looks of their website, though.  I didn't send a query to them, however.  It was weird.  I just got a letter in the mail from the company and stated what I said above.  Do companies scroll through the WGA archives?  If so, that's kind of cool.    

So there are people out there that will read, it's just a matter of it being produced.      

That's odd Guy. Maybe production companies do look through the archives. First I've heard of it though.

Well, I've entered contests. I was a finalist in one, a third place winner for the best first page in another, and a winner in yet another contest that produced my script.

I've queried agents. Most of them I don't hear back from. Out of the three that I did hear from their responses were:
1. Not what we are looking for, but good luck.
2. Requested a script, then said it wasn't what they were looking for.
3.Wanted the script, but I found out bad things about them on the internet. Seems they get writers only to have them pay out the nose for critiques and rewrites from people in Hollywood, so I never sent them my script.
    
I query production companies every week. Some of them request a script. I usually wait a couple weeks, then e-mail them to see if they got the script or not.
Some of them I never hear back from, and I think that is just plain rude. I know they are busy, but if I take the time to print out and mail a script or e-mail the script, I believe they should at least say they don't want it if they don't want it.
Right now I have five people who I've sent the rewrite of my script Full Circle to.
Three of them like my writing. One wants to see my next script whatever that will be, another is thinking about having me write a script for them from their story, and another will get back to me in one week about my script.


So what I've learned is I should enter contests, and deal directly with production companies. Without an agent I can't get any big shots in Hollywood to look at anything, but the independant producers have shown an interest with my work.

Independant films can later be picked up by a bigger producer, too. Local producers here, the ones that I went to see thier premier of Mr Jingles, well, Lions Gate picked it up from them. I'll go find the link to the movie and put it in here.

Here's the link:
http://www.int-ent.net/2%20SICK.htm

Cindy

I gave scriptblater a go.  I had about 12 responses total, two actual reads, and 1 false postive.  False positive=when I looked her name up, I discovered she charges for reads and a critique.

I sent my script to the producer about 2-3 weeks, no luck as of yet.

I've recently been giving the contest route a shot, I'll see how I fair there.  

I'm also going to give some of your query techniques a try.  

thanks

Jake